Inflatable ball with finger inserts

ABSTRACT

An inflatable ball includes a spherical outer skin and at least one finger insert extending inward from the spherical outer skin. Each finger insert is configured to receive a human finger therein.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit and priority of U.S. PatentApplication Ser. No. 62/147,263, filed Apr. 14, 2015 and entitled“Inflatable Rubber Ball With A Plurality of Finger Receptacles” and U.S.Patent Application Ser. No. 62/119,333, filed Feb. 23, 2015 and entitled“Bowling Kickball,” the entirety of each of which is incorporated hereinby reference.

BACKGROUND

The subject matter disclosed herein relates to an inflatable ball withfinger inserts.

Inflatable balls are used in variety of sports, including kick ball anddodge ball. In order to grip and throw the inflatable ball, an athleteneeds to position the palm and the interior surface of the fingers ofhis/her hands on the outer surface of the ball. Oftentimes, an athletemust use two hands in order to grip and throw or roll a largerinflatable ball. Athletes, especially those with smaller hands (e.g.,young children), may struggle to control the direction and speed thatthe inflatable ball is thrown or rolled.

SUMMARY

An inflatable ball includes a spherical outer skin and at least onefinger insert extending inward from the spherical outer skin. Eachfinger insert is configured to receive a human finger therein.

In an embodiment, an inflatable ball includes a ball body having aspherical outer skin and an inner bladder configured to receive a gastherein. Each of the spherical outer skin and the inner bladder isformed of an elastomeric material. At least two finger inserts extendinward from the spherical outer skin. Each finger insert is configuredto receive a human finger therein.

In another embodiment, an inflatable ball includes a spherical outerskin and at least two finger inserts extending inward from the sphericalouter skin. Each finger insert is configured to receive a human fingertherein.

This brief description of the invention is intended only to provide abrief overview of subject matter disclosed herein according to one ormore illustrative embodiments, and does not serve as a guide to defineor limit the scope of the invention. This brief description is providedto introduce an illustrative selection of concepts in a simplified formthat are further described below in the detailed description. This briefdescription is not intended to identify key features or essentialfeatures of the invention, nor is it intended to be used as an aid indetermining the scope of the invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

So that the manner in which the features of the invention can beunderstood, a detailed description of the invention may be had byreference to certain embodiments, some of which are illustrated in theaccompanying drawings. It is to be noted, however, that the drawingsillustrate only certain embodiments of this invention and are thereforenot to be considered limiting of its scope, for the scope of theinvention encompasses other equally effective embodiments. The drawingsare not necessarily to scale, emphasis generally being placed uponillustrating the features of certain embodiments of the invention. Inthe drawings, like numerals are used to indicate like parts throughoutthe various views. Thus, for further understanding of the invention,reference can be made to the following detailed description, read inconnection with the drawings in which:

FIGS. 1A-1C are three-dimensional renderings of views of the outersurface of a first embodiment of an inflatable ball;

FIGS. 2A-2B, 3A-3B, and 4A-4B are partial cutaway cross-sections of thefirst embodiment of inflatable ball of FIGS. 1A-1C, showing the crosssections of the finger inserts;

FIGS. 5A-5C are three-dimensional renderings of views of the outersurface of a second embodiment of an inflatable ball; and

FIGS. 6A-6B are partial cutaway cross-sections of the second embodimentof inflatable ball of FIGS. 6A-6B, showing the cross sections of thefinger inserts.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

FIGS. 1A-1C are three-dimensional renderings of views of an embodimentof an inflatable ball 100 having a ball body 102. The inflatable ball100 is a multipurpose playground ball that can be used (e.g., rolled,thrown, kicked, caught, etc.) in a number of sports, including kickball, bowling, or dodge ball, among others. In an embodiment, the ballbody 102 has an outer shell or skin 104 and a valve (not shown)configured to admit a gas into the hollow interior of the inflatableball 100. In another embodiment, the ball body 102 has an outer skin104, an interior bladder (not shown), and a valve (not shown) extendingthrough the outer skin 104 and the interior bladder. A gas, such as air,for example compressed air, is introduced to the interior bladderthrough the valve. The interior bladder retains the gas therein underpressure in order to inflate the inflatable ball 100.

The inflatable ball 100 can be formed of a stretchable material, such asan elastomeric material. For example, the inflatable ball 100 can beformed of a rubber or rubberlike material, including natural rubber orsynthetic rubber. In another example, the inflatable ball 100 can beformed of a curable, resilient synthetic polymer. In an example, theinflatable ball 100 is formed from a material selected from the groupconsisting of thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU), polyvinyl chloride(PVC), ethylene-vinyl acetate (EVA), natural rubber, artificial rubber,and latex. In an embodiment in which the inflatable ball 100 includes anouter skin 104 and an interior bladder, the outer skin 104 and theinterior bladder can both be formed from the same material or the outerskin 104 and the interior bladder can each be formed of a differentmaterial. The inflatable ball 100 can be formed by any suitable method,such as molding. In one embodiment, the outer surface 106 of theinflatable ball 100 is made of a non-latex rubber using a roto-moldmolding process.

In an embodiment, the outer surface 106 of the outer skin 104 can have apattern to roughen the outer surface 106. This roughened surface canimprove the grippability of the inflatable ball 100. In anotherembodiment, the outer surface 106 of the outer skin 104 can be smooth.

The outer surface 106 of the inflatable ball 100 has at least one fingerrecess or insert 110, 120 extending inward toward the center 108 of theinflatable ball 100 from the outer surface 106. FIGS. 2A-2B, 3A-3B, and4A-4B are partial cutaway cross-sections of the first embodiment of theinflatable ball 100 of FIGS. 1A-1C, showing the cross sections of theplurality finger inserts 110, 120. In an embodiment, the inflatable ball100 includes a plurality (i.e., two or more) of finger inserts 110, 120.Each of the plurality of finger inserts 110, 120 is formed to receiveone finger (e.g., index finger, middle ringer, ring finger, pinky, orthumb) to allow an athlete to grip and throw the inflatable ball 100.For example, each finger insert 110, 120 can be sized to receive afinger. In another example, each finger insert 110, 120 can be shaped toreceive a finger. For example, each finger insert 110, 120 can have acylindrical shape. In an embodiment, the inflatable ball 100 includes afinger insert 120 formed to receive a thumb finger and at least onefinger insert 110 formed to receive a non-thumb finger. The at least onefinger insert 110 formed to receive the non-thumb finger can bepositioned near the finger insert 120 formed to receive the thumb suchthat a human hand can comfortably span the distance 109 between thefinger inserts 110, 120.

In an embodiment, illustrated by FIGS. 2A-2B, 3A-3B, and 4A-4B, theplurality of finger inserts 110, 120 integral to the outer skin 104 andare formed during the molding of the outer skin 104 of the ball 100. Inother words, the finger inserts 110, 120 are not formed separately andthen attached to the outer surface of the inflatable ball 100. In theembodiment of the inflatable ball 100 shown in FIGS. 2A-4B, the fingerinserts 110, 120 are indentations that extend into the ball 100 asufficient distance to receive an athlete's fingers.

In another embodiment of the inflatable ball 100, illustrated by FIGS.5A-6B, the plurality of finger inserts 110, 120 are not integral to theouter skin 104. In this embodiment, the plurality of finger inserts 110,120 are formed by inserts 230 that mate with the outer surface of theball 100. In other words, the finger inserts 110, 120 are formedseparately and then attached to the outer surface 106 of the inflatableball 200. The finger inserts 230 can be attached to the outer surface106 of the inflatable ball 100 in any suitable manner. For example, thefinger inserts 230 can be attached to the outer surface 106 of theinflatable ball 100 with an adhesive. In the embodiment of theinflatable ball 100 shown in FIGS. 5A-6B, the finger inserts 110, 120are separate inserts 230 (e.g., plastic inserts) that extend into theball 200 a sufficient distance to receive an athlete's fingers.

The inflatable ball 100 is a multipurpose playground ball that can beused (e.g., rolled, thrown, kicked, caught, etc.) in a number of sports,including kick ball, bowling, and dodge ball, among others. It will beunderstood that, although the inflatable ball 100 is shown with threefinger inserts 110, 120, a different number of finger inserts (e.g., (2)through (10)) could be used in different embodiments.

An advantage that may be realized in the practice of some disclosedembodiments of the inflatable ball is that, by placing his/her fingersin the finger inserts, an athlete can grip and throw or roll aninflatable ball more accurately by controlling the direction and speedof the ball. Furthermore, an athlete may be able to grip and throw alarge inflatable ball with one hand during a game or competition.

To the extent that the claims recite the phrase “at least one of” inreference to a plurality of elements, this is intended to mean at leastone or more of the listed elements, and is not limited to at least oneof each elements. For example, “at least one of an element A, element B,and element C,” is intended to indicate element A alone, or element Balone, or element C alone, or any combination thereof. “At least one ofelement A, element B, and element C” is not intended to be limited to atleast one of an element A, at least one of an element B, and at leastone of an element C.

This written description uses examples to disclose the invention,including the best mode, and also to enable any person skilled in theart to practice the invention, including making and using any devices orsystems and performing any incorporated methods. The patentable scope ofthe invention is defined by the claims, and may include other examplesthat occur to those skilled in the art. Such other examples are intendedto be within the scope of the claims if they have structural elementsthat do not differ from the literal language of the claims, or if theyinclude equivalent structural elements with insubstantial differencesfrom the literal language of the claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. An inflatable ball, comprising: a ball bodycomprising a spherical outer skin and an inner bladder configured toreceive a gas therein, each of the spherical outer skin and the innerbladder formed of an elastomeric material; and at least two fingerinserts extending inward from the spherical outer skin, wherein eachfinger insert is configured to receive a human finger therein.
 2. Theinflatable ball of claim 1, wherein each of the spherical outer skin andthe inner bladder is formed of at least one of a natural rubber, asynthetic rubber, a rubber-like material, and a curable resilientsynthetic polymer.
 3. The inflatable ball of claim 1, wherein the innerbladder and the spherical outer skin are formed of the same elastomericmaterial.
 4. The inflatable ball of claim 1, wherein the inner bladderand the spherical outer skin are each formed of a different elastomericmaterial.
 5. The inflatable ball of claim 1, wherein the ball bodycomprises three finger inserts.
 6. The inflatable ball of claim 5,wherein a first finger insert is configured to receive a thumb fingerand a second and third finger insert are configured to receive anon-thumb finger.
 7. The inflatable ball of claim 1, wherein each of theplurality of finger inserts is integral to the spherical outer skin. 8.The inflatable ball of claim 1, wherein each of the plurality of fingerinserts is attached to the spherical outer skin.
 9. The inflatable ballof claim 1, wherein each of the plurality of finger inserts has acylindrical shape.
 10. An inflatable ball, comprising: a ball bodycomprising a spherical outer skin and at least two finger insertsextending inward from the spherical outer skin, wherein each fingerinsert is configured to receive a human finger therein.
 11. Theinflatable ball of claim 10, further comprising an inner bladderconfigured to receive a gas therein.
 12. The inflatable ball of claim10, wherein the spherical outer skin is formed of an elastomericmaterial.
 13. The inflatable ball of claim 12, wherein the sphericalouter skin is formed of at least one of a natural rubber, a syntheticrubber, a rubber-like material, and a curable resilient syntheticpolymer.
 14. The inflatable ball of claim 10, wherein the ball bodycomprises three finger inserts.
 15. The inflatable ball of claim 14,wherein a first finger insert is configured to receive a thumb fingerand a second and third finger insert are configured to receive anon-thumb finger.
 16. The inflatable ball of claim 10, wherein each ofthe plurality of finger inserts is integral to the spherical outer skin.17. The inflatable ball of claim 10, wherein each of the plurality offinger inserts is attached to the spherical outer skin.
 18. Theinflatable ball of claim 10, wherein each of the plurality of fingerinserts has a cylindrical shape.